Knights in Quidditch Uniforms
by Candydah
Summary: The Junior World Quidditch Cup has come to Hogwarts and no one is as excited as James Potter. But when he meets Lily Evans, the Beauxbatons team captain, will he be able to focus long enough to win the tournament? Or will he end up blowing it all?
1. In Which There is an Exciting Anouncment

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of this. The characters and setting all belong to J.K Rowling. Only the plot line is mine, and even then it was somewhat influenced by Rowling as well.**

_Hello! OK, so though I cannot call this fan fiction my first, I can certainly say I have come a long way from the previous one I posted several years ago. It was so bad and illiterate I erased it and I'm sure there are many grateful that I did. (lol)_

_This idea came to me a long time ago, presumably after I watched the Goblet of Fire. I'm not sure exactly when, but several months later the idea was still sticking in my head. By that time I was at least somewhat literate and I began writing out the first chapter. It has been edited and changed allot to get to where it is now and I can say with satisfaction that I am completely pleased with it. At least it doesn't sound noobish. xD lol._

The loud hum of the students filling the great hall was clear in their ears as they entered and made their way over to the Gryffindortable. The first day returned to school after several months and the start of a new year always created such excitement, but the four boys noticed a significant difference. There was something else, all their parents had seemed excited, rumours were flying about a special event coming to Hogwarts for the first time. They knew nothing, of course. It was meant to be a surprise. Even the daily prophet would do little more than drop subtle hints on what is to come. This rumoured event was to be announced then, at the welcome back feast for the students, and it would have been a surprise to find any single student not speculating on what it would be.

This included the four seventh year boys as they sat down in their place on the gryffindor table. They had spent nearly the whole of the train ride discussing it and were particularly eager to learn what it was all about. Something as exciting had not happened in all the time they had been at Hogwarts, and even more surprising and mysterious was that they were choosing to do it now, with the Voldemort uprising in the back of everyone's mind.

This supposed Dark Lord was moving quickly through great Britain and for the past months there have been more than just several reports of muggle massacres and plenty of aurors going MIA. This included one James Potters own father, whose location had been unknown for several months now. James could not help but be immensely worried and had wanted to do anything to find him as soon as possible. But he was still a student. And besides, there wasn't exactly much he could do. James had not been the only one to worry over Harold Potters disappearance. Sirius Black, a resident of Potter Manor for the past two years, was also greatly distressed and his usual high spirited attitude had been dimmed down due to it.

Now, though, the four boys only chatted happily as they had in the past, when Voldemort had only been a shadowy rumour. A story to scare small children. A minor threat to the wizarding world. They had all made a pact to enjoy their last year in Hogwarts to its fullest, and nothing would stop them from doing just that. Not even "Moldymort" (in the words of Sirius.)

Their three deep voices (and the slightly childish one of their fourth friend Peter) rose above the hum of excited talk particularly and heads turned in their direction, as they usually did. Girls watched them through sideways glances, and the particularly brave ones greeted them as they passed on the way to their own seats. The boys either looked on in admiration or resentment. Nearly every girl in Hogwarts (including quite a few slytherins) were totally infatuated with them even if they pretended not to be. This came as no surprise to anyone. They were abnormally handsome and their charming and daring attitude often left the girls of Hogwarts swooning as they passed in the halls.

James and Sirius in particular were know for their playboy attitudes. James, with his messy, windswept hair and incredible quidditch skills that had not been seen for many a year and Sirius with his devilishly handsome face and carefree attitude. Remus, though not as popular as his two friends, also got a fair amount of attention from the girls. As for Peter, well, most didn't bother to pay attention to poor Peter at all. Except for, of course, the Marauders themselves, which is what the group of friends called themselves.

The sorting went by quickly, and then afterwards Professor McGonagall stood up at the podium and announced to the shock of many James as Head Boy and Alice Prewett as Head Girl. Everyone was quite shocked and many pleased, save for a good number of the slytherins, with the choice, and James's friends loudly accused him for the better part of ten minutes of keeping from them this important secret. "I wanted it to be a surprise!" He said as Sirius playfully punched him in the shoulder.

Then Dumbledore stepped up. The hum of the talking students quieted immediately and they all turned to look up at the headmaster as he cleared his throat. "Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Now in normal circumstances, I would simply allow you to begin the feast at this time, but this year is certainly going to be different.

"This year, Hogwarts will play host to a legendary event. The Junior World Quidditch Cup!" Immediately, the excited hum returned as gasps rung throughout the hall and the Marauders exchanged excited glances. James and Sirius, captain and co-captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, in particular. James jumped up throwing his fist in the air and shouting "Yes!" While Sirius gave a loud whoop. It was even better than they had anticipated.

Dumbledore nodded, a light friendly smile on his face and a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. He raised his hand for silence once more. "The Junior World Quidditch Cup is a Quidditch tournament that is hosted in different magical schools around the world every three years. And those magical schools play host to guests of Quidditch teams from schools around the world where they compete for the championship title! For the past ten years or so, this event has been put on delay due to complications. This year, Hogwarts has been chosen to host the event.

"As for the subject of which team will represent Hogwarts, the Tournament Officials and the Hogwarts staff have decided that the winners of last years Quidditch Cup for Hogwarts should have the honour." James and Sirius's grins grew wider and wider with every word and they had trouble staying in their seats. The headmaster gestured with a wrinkled hand towards the Gryffindor table. "Team Gryffindor, if you will do us the honor."

The cheering in the hall was almost deafening, the loudest of it coming from the Gryffindor table. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were cheering as well, happy at least that Gryffindor would be playing and not Slytherin. Slytherin was just about equally as good as Gryffindor, however no one really wanted them to represent Hogwarts in any way.

Dumbledoreraised his hand and cleared his throat. This time it took almost a minute for the hall to calm down, but when it was finally silent again he spoke, "Now, I would like to introduce to you the visiting teams this year. First, please help me in welcoming.." The teams entrance was grand and each school made sure they left the students of Hogwarts impressed. There were teams from all over the world including from China, Iceland, Africa and Australia. There was even an American team. Teenagers, witches and wizards from all over the world. When all of these had been introduced, Dumbledore cleared his throat and everyone stopped their clapping."So far we have-including Hogwarts-six teams competing but there are two we have yet to introduce." He cleared his throat and gestured towards the great woods doors of the great hall. "Please help me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and their Head Mistress, Madame Maxime!" At this point Sirius, with a large smirk, nudge James in the ribs and whispered, "This is gonna be good."

The lights in the great hall suddenly dimmed and the doors of the great hall swung open. Glittering blue lights and butterflies followed as a group of young girls-probably from around their fourth to seventh years of school-strode in confidently, wearing their light blue school uniforms. Their heads were raised and their shoulders squared in their confidence and they kept their eyes forward but there was a grace about them that neither James nor Sirius had yet to see in any Hogwarts girl. The whole thing was dazzling and equally impressive, if not more, than the past five team introductions. The eyes of nearly every teenage boy in the room (including those from the other visiting teams) seemed to follow them as they glided down the length of the great hallway, occasionally flashing a smile or flipping their varying shades of blond hair over their shoulders.

All of them were tall and slender with eyes of either blue or brown and all of them had long, shining blond hair. They hardly seemed to pose a threat to the other teams, but James, as the his own teams captain, would not underestimate them. He could see the determined glint in their eye and the subtle muscles that showed in their legs and arms, covered partially by their modest yet elegant uniform.

Next to him saw he saw Sirius return a grin to a particularly blond beauxbatons girl as she passed who seemed to have given him a second glance. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head as his eyes followed them down the isle. "Lemme tell ya Prongsie ma boy, were gonna have some fun this year." He sighed, grinning hugely. Remus, sitting across from them with Peter next to him rolled his eyes and Peter blushed. James's mouth twitched slightly, fighting a grin.

"Not this year Padfoot ma boy. This year we've got to be entierly focused on the tournament. Early morning practices at least four times a week. I will not be satisfied without that first place trophy! We cant let these other teams think were complete idiots!" He declared, pounding a closed fist onto his chest. "We will win!"

But Sirius had stopped listening to him, his eyes focused on the doors of the great hall. Dumbledore spoke in the background, "Madame Maxime, and the Beauxbatons team Captain and Co-captain, Lilian Evans and Marie Girard." At this announcement, James's head snapped up from looking at his friend and turned towards the doors of the hall. He was stunned by what he saw.

No, he was not completely shocked by the seven foot giant woman who strolled in with such grace that James would have thought impossible. What completely stunned him was the two girls, tiny in appearance as they stood next to their giant Headmistress that had him stunned. They were completely different from the rest of their team.

One was tall for a girl, though she did not particularly look it standing next to the giant headmistress, but fairly attractive in a cold sort of way. Her piercingly bright blue eyes stood out shockingly against her pale, almost translucent milky white skin, like silk stretched over glass. Her hair, cut in an angled bob, was black as the blackest night and shone under the glittering blue lights that accompanied them. She had a cool, collected expression on her face but her angled eyebrows were slightly raised and the smirk she wore on her surprisingly red lips dared anyone to mess with her. Sirius in particular, James would be informed later, had a hard time looking away from her, his mouth dropped open slightly as he stared at her in shock. James, however, had trouble turning away his gaze from the other girl.

She was tall, though not as tall as her co-captain, with creamy pale skin that had the hint of a tan. She was stunningly beautiful and almost exotic looking. Her features were soft, yet somehow angled with an elegantly long neck and high cheekbones and she had a kind face. She was thin, or at least looked it from where James sat, and almost delicate looking. Shockingly red hair, almost the color of a rose, spilled like waves of blood over her shoulder and down her back, resting just above her hips in smooth curls. She held her head high with her shoulders squared and took long graceful strides, a determined glint in her eyes.

She was scanning the crowd of Hogwarts students and visiting teams. Finally her eyes passed over James and he sucked in a sharp intake of breath. Her eyes. Oh, her eyes. They were almond shaped, and green. Not just any green, however, but the most stunningly bright green he had even seen. He had never seen eyes so bright or so vivid before. They bored into him as she returned his gaze for a short moment, and then turned away. James let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding.

As she neared the front of the great hall where the rest of her team was lined up, James was finally able to rip his eyes away from the girl. He looked towards Sirius, who to the great shock of James seemed slightly flustered and there was was the hint of a blush on his face. Then he scanned the crowds and noticed almost angrily that nearly every boy in the room was staring towards the two girls, most noticeably the red head.

Suddenly, the boom of Dumbledore's voice broke though the murmurs of the students and the room went silent again, everyone's head snapping up to look at the headmaster as he spoke, "And now, the strapping young lads of durmstrang, their High Master, Demeter Anchova!"

The doors burst open again and the durmstrang team marched through the doors, great displays of fire and bursts of light. One student at the front blew through a flame that danced on top of his wand and it stretched and grew into the shape of a dragon that blew fire over head before it shrunk back. They strolled in, with frowns or scowls except for two, the captain and co-captain who marched in with confident smirks before their headmaster. They spotted the two astonishingly beautiful girls from beauxbatons and walked toward them, away from the rest of their team as they lined up in the front of the great hall with the rest of the teams. No one seemed to protest, their own headmaster merely glanced their way once before returning to his scowling and stood with his arms crossed by his students.

The two boys from Durmstrang went to stand by Evans and Girard, throwing their arms around them and grinning. The rest of the girls from Beauxbatons looked on jealously. The two girls seemed to be fond of them, though slightly annoyed that they had come up to them at a time like then. They shot them amused glances and the red head, Evans, even dropped her determined facade for a second to let out a small laugh.

James stomach did a flip as he watched her giggle softly to the Durmstrang team captain who had thrown his arm over her shoulder. The determined look, he decided, did not suit her nearly as well as her carefree smile did. But he found himself murderously jealous of the Durmstrang captain, who had put that smile on her face. He found himself wanting desperately to be the one with his arm around her shoulder, making her giggle as she did now.

His thoughts were interrupted yet again as Dumbledore spoke and everyone ceased their chatting, including Evans and Girard and the two Durmstrang boys. "Now im sure you all will be pleased to know that, according to tradition, the tournament will be, how do the young people say it, _kicked off_this Sunday with a ball. All the teams members are invited, along with anyone else they choose to bring as a partner. The first game will be the following Friday with Durmstrang against Gondol, the American team."

Dumbledore gave a light-hearted smile and turned towards the crowd of visiting students, "Now, you may all choose any of the four house tables to sit at, or if you wish you can return to your housing and eat there. But in any case, I believe that we have delayed the feast long enough. Now, eat up!" And suddenly food appeared at the tables and there was a great lot of noise as people began piling food on their plates and visiting teams moved to exit the hall or sit at one of the tables.

"Well, that was interesting." Said Remus as he grabbed a bun from a pile of them off a nearby plate.

"Interesting?! Its bloody brilliant! I cant wait till our first match! I wonder who were playing against?" Sirius shouted, swallowing a mouth full of food. He nudged James in the ribs, who was shoving a biscuit down his throat. "Eh James, what did you think of those Beauxbatons girls? Hard to believe there actually quidditch players huh? Specially that Girard." He added, shaking his head thoughtfully.

Remus snorted and looked at Sirius quizzically. "Padfoot, your eyes were all over that Girard. Ive never seen you blush that shade of red before." He snickered and Peter went off into fits of giggling. Sirius scowled and gripped his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"I was not blushing dammit! Men do not blush! Save for Peter." He added at the now furiously blushing Peter who had promptly stopped giggling and was now staring pointedly at his potatoes.

They all laughed at their friends embarrassment and Remus pounded him on the back good naturedly. "And what about you Prongs? That Evans was sure something special, hm? He asked suggestively and James grinned foolishly.

"Yeah, its hard to believe that shes actually the team captain." Suddenly, a voice behind him spoke,

"Tough words for a preety boy." The voice was heavily accented with french and Remus and Peter, who were sitting on the other side of the table, facing who ever had spoken, suddenly straightened and their eyes widened. Sirius and James promptly turned around and their eyes widened as well.

Standing there with their arms crossed and looking livid were Lilan Evans and Marie Girard. Sirius's jaw dropped but James managed to keep his composure, though only barley. Evans, the red head, looked positively furious while Girard, the one who had spoken, looked only dangerously angry. She stood in front while Evans stood close behind at her shoulder. There was a significant height difference between them, but Evans somehow managed to stand out. At least from James point of view.

"You do not theenk girls can play quidditch as well as boys? Jus' because we are preety you theenk we can not play well?" She said, almost casually but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes.

James smirked and glanced at Sirius who seemd to have composed himself. Sirus returned the smirk. "Well darling its only natural." James began, grinning lopsidedly, "Someone with your looks simply cannot win against expert teams like ours."

"And an all girls team simply has no chance against the rest of the teams. You'll be beaten the first time you play." Sirius added as if it was common sense.

"'Ow dare you!" Girard shouted and Evans gave an indignant screech. She brushed past Girard, looking perfectly ready to slap the two.

"How dare you! You think just because were girls we have no chance against stuck-up, arrogant, toe rags like you? What makes you think you stand a chance against us?!" She practically shouted. James was surprised. She had a heavy English accent as if she had grown up in Britain and gone to Hogwarts just like James and the rest of them.

"Your a gir--"James began but had no time to finish as he was suddenly slapped across the face.

"Lily!" "Oi!" Girard and Sirius both shouted at the same time. Girard grabbed Lily's hand to restrain her.

"You weel get us disqualified!" She protested but didn't seem too upset, an amused smile on her red lips. Lily seemed slightly shocked at what she had done. Her eyes were wide and she stared at the palm of her hand, now red from the impact of slapping James across the face.

James simply held a hand to his face where she had slapped him and gave her a lop-sided grin, the kind that made most girls swoon. Lily only scowled and her hand cringed dangerously, as if she was getting ready to slap him again. "So, Lily's your name? My names Potter. James Potter. Just call me James."

"Absoloutly not! And thats Evans to you, Potter!" She spat angrily and Marie gave an amused grin which promptly turned into a scowl at the wink Sirius gave her.

"It seems you certainly despise us, Evans. I wonder why you came over here, then, if not to talk to us. Or why your still here." Sirius pointed out and smirked. Marie's pale skin began turning red as she tried to control her anger. Lily narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Checking out the competition. And luckily its not to intimidating. At least, not the Hogwarts team." She said with here bright green eyes narrowed dangerously. James thought it looked rather intimidating.

"Lily! Marie!" Someone suddenly shouted and the two Durmstrang boys from earlier came up, putting their arms around the girls shoulders. "Ivann! Viktor!" Lily said, surprised.

"So this is vhere you haf been." Said Viktor, the one who had his arm around Lily. They both looked over at James and Sirius with glares in their eyes. The two Gryffindors glared back, Sirius gripping his cup tightly so that his knuckles began turning white. He bored a death glare towards Ivann, the one with his arm around Marie, and Ivann glared right back.

Viktor nodded towards them, "Vere these guys bothering you?" He asked and Lily glared back towards James and raised an eyebrow.

"Not anymore." She said, with a slightly smirk. Viktor tightened his grip on her shoulder and him and Ivann turned and began walking towards the Slytherin table.

"Vell, in any case, you must come sit vith us at the Slytherin table. They are qvite entertaining, these Brits." Ivann chuckled as they led them away. Marie looked hesitant to go, but said nothing as Ivann led her over to the table. Lily looked simply disgusted, as if the very thought of sitting at the Slytherin table repulsed her. But she could not stray Viktor from sitting there, and eventually was talked into it. Sirius glared after Marie, gritting his teeth and James found himself murderously angry as well.

"Well, that was interesting." Remus spoke again for the first time in a while.

"Who were those guys?!" Sirius shouted angrily, him and James turning back towards Remus and Peter.

"That's Viktor Baronova with his arm around Evans and Ivann Demine. There the captains of the Durmstrang team. Apparently, those two are quite protective over their little french flowers." A voice spoke behind Sirius and James.

"Emma!" Remus exclaimed and some of his pumpkin juice spilled over the ledge as he suddenly slapped his cup down and began blushing lightly at his mistake.

Emma giggled and Sirius and James scooted over so she could sit with them. "Hey Remus."

"So how do you know that?" Sirius asked, returning to his food.

"It was in Witch Weeklys last issue." She explained. "Apparently, Viktor Baranova is quite famous in Durmstrang, as is Lilian Evans in France. Them and Ivann and Marie. They were in Witch Weekly as the top two most adorable couples in its foreign section. Why do you care so much, Sirius?" She added quizzically.

Sirius had apparently found his plate suddenly very interesting. "Just checking out the competition." He said.

James scowled and glared at his plate. He just couldn't get the image of the Viktor with his arm around Lily out of his mind. It made him unethically angry. He thought it ridiculous, to get this upset over a girl. And a girl he barley knew. A girl who was competition for gods sakes! He must not allow her to distract him, he decided.

"Well, who they are and what there doing with Evans and Girard dont matter. What matters is winning! We cant allow Hogwarts to lose. I mean, did you hear that guy? 'These brits'!" He scowled and snorted. "We cant let them think were incompetent British idiots like Peter!" He added at the end with a face full of mock seriousness. Peter looked up at him with a shocked expression and they all burst out laughing.

"You know were only kidding you Peter." James said as the Gryffindor boy blushed. For the next half hour they all only concentrated on eating and enjoying themselves. James discussed practice times he was setting up, "Immediately. We've got to get ahead now or we never will. Im booking the pitch for tomarrow, bright and early. Don't worry," He added at Sirius and Emma's (who was on the Gryffindor team) protesting expressions. "Its just for a couple hours in the morning and then you'll have until Monday afternoon to rest up again. But starting after monday its going to get intense so make sure your prepared!" He announced and shovelled a spoon full of mashed potatoes into his mouth. For the rest of the night they joked and enjoyed the highly delicious feast.

Deserts showed up and it only took a couple of seconds for the surrounding plates to become empty as Sirius, James, and Remus especially, stocked up on the treats. They shoved some of the more portable candies for later into their pockets and shoveled down cupcakes and pudding the rest of the night. Remus enjoyed his chocolate and chatted with Emma most of the night while Sirius began discussing their annual upcoming start of the year prank.

"I think we should do something to target to visiting teams." He said with finality, nodding his head firmly. James shook his head slowly,

"Nah, I'm head boy this year remember? If McGonagall catches us doing something to embarrass Hogwarts or Gryffindor for that matter there gonna be hell to pay, specially cause we got the tournament this year."

"C'mon Prongs! Since when have you ever cared about that?!" James only shrugged. "Well then we can do something more traditional!" Sirius suggested, giving in. "How bout a good ol fashioned slytherin prank?"

James considered it for moment before grinning hugely. "Alright then. Lets meet up in the heads room and get to planning before we all get to busy with the tournament. How bout we set it off at dinner tomorrow?"

The Marauders agreed while Emma politely ignored them and munched on her cupcake. Pretty soon, the feast was over and people were filing out of the Great Hall, groaning tiredly and heading to bed. As the Marauders followed James out, he found himself unconsciously glancing around for a head of blood red hair. He thought he saw one heading out of the castle and onto the grounds, where the housing for the visiting teams was, but it disappeared quickly and James found himself disapointed. Fighting back a sigh, he shrugged to himself and led his fellow Marauders to the heads dorm.

When they got there, he found Alice stand at the entrance waiting for him. He couldn't help but be highly grateful that Alice had been made Head Girl. She was a good person and one of the few people who did not swoon at the sight of him, along with Emma. But then again, she didn't need to. She was already desperately in love and engaged to Frank Longbottom, who had been a good friend of James. Frank had just graduated Hogwarts and was now attending the auror academy. Alice, according to her, would follow after him shortly after she got out of Hogwarts and their wedding was to be after they had finally become aurors.

"Alice!" He exclaimed upon seeing her. She eyed the rest of the Marauders carefully and waved at Emma who had followed them looking for Alice.

"Well, as I can see you guys are having a special Marauder night and don't want to be kept up until all late hours, I'm going to go with Emma and sleep in the girls dorms." She told him and James nodded. "The passwords Snorflack." She whispered into his ear and laughed when he looked at her quizzically. "Something Amelia told me about." James laughed and grinned, nodding in understanding.

Amelia was a rather eccentric Ravenclaw seventh-year who was currently going out with Xenopholis Lovegoodof the same house. He was equally eccentric as she was and so it was thought throughout the school they were a good match. Though they were often ridiculed because of their odd behavior and beliefs. James personally thought them brave and reliable and sometimes wondered how they had not been put in Gryffindor.

"Well, we'll see you guys later!" Her and Emma said and they walked off towards the girls dorms. "Your gonna love it in there!" Alice added and turned as the continued down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

James looked after them only for a moment before turning to a great big dark wood door. It was rounded at the top and intricately carved with the symbols of the four houses. He stood in front of it, confused for a moment, wondering how he was going to get in. There was no door knob, and it was not a portrait that he could just talk too. Suddenly, the face of the Gryffindor lion from his carving in the door called out to him, "Over here, Ma'boy! You've got the password, I suppose?" It asked him.

"Uh, yeah." He took a breath and then said, almost quentioningly, "Snorflack?" The door swung open and James, quite pleased with himself, strode in confidentally with the rest of the marauders following. Sirius was chuckling to himself and mouthed 'snorflack' to the lion whom shurgged before returning to its sleep.

"God, that Amelia. She certainly is one amusing character." He chuckled and bumped into James who had stopped abruptly in the doorway. "Bloody-Prongs!-" He began but his mouth dropped at the sight of the dorms.

The common room was huge. Over on the east wall was a gigantic, roaring fireplace. Sirius, the tallest of the Marauders, could have easily fit inside of it standing up straight. Above that was a huge red and gold tapestry of the symbol of Gryffindor. Red and gold tapestries and streamers decorated the walls and ceilings. Surrounding the huge fireplace were red plush couches and velvet bean bags, stocked with pillows. Over each of the couches was draped a cotton blanket. The entire west wall was made of book shelves which stretched to the ceiling and there was a large round oak table surrounded by chairs, presumably for doing homework or arranging head duties. On the south facing wall were two stairways, above one a large gold HB, another a large HG. In between the two stairways was a small nook, which had a bench built into the wall. Pillows were piled onto the bench and the window there overlooked a magnificent view of the Black Lake.

"Bloody hell." Sirius whispered and him and James grinned at each other. "This place is fantastic! Prongs you lucky dog! Or should I say stag?" Sirius grinned and was promptly hit in the face with a pillow by James.

"If any ones a dog around here its you Padfoot!" He grinned and the two immediately launched into a pillow war, throwing things at each other and making a mess of the place. Remus and Peter looked on for a moment, before Remus with a curious expression went over to examine the books. Peter continued to watch the two boys brawl playfully. They were now wrestling each other on the huge expanse of floor which was covered with a soft gold rug. Eventually they settled down enough and a four of them gathered around the fire place.

The chatted and planned for well into the night, though by one o'clock all of them were exhausted. Eventually, as the roaring fire dimmed, they all crashed. James and Sirius, the tallest of the four, slept on the couches while Remus and Peter were perfectly content with the beanbags which were just as good if not better than any bed. However, quite some time after he could clearly head Sirius's loud snoring, Peters sleep talk, and Remus's soft breathing James stayed awake, thinking.

He thought about quite a lot of things. First, he found himself finally realizing how busy he would be this year. With the tournament, heads duties, and the seventh year exams, he would have to be very careful to be able to even think about pranking. But it was their last year. And so they would have to impress this year more than any other with their pranks. It was the Marauder thing to do, James decided. They would go out in style, or else they could not call themselves Marauders.

The second, of course, was the tournament. He found himself doing as he usually did since he had become captain, making up practice schedules for his players, and figuring out days he would book the pitch. He decided early morning practices were best on the weekends. They would last well into the afternoon, except on Hogsmede days of course. Weekdays were for late night practices, but not too late. He knew pushing himself and his team too hard would affect their play during the tournament.

Lastly, as he finally found himself drifting off to sleep, he thought about that girl. Evans. Lilian. "Lily," he whispered, loving the way it sounded to him. It was the most beautiful name in the world. And he thought it suited her perfectly. He thought about when she had approached him, her and Marie. She looked beautiful even as livid as she was. But, he thought, her kind, laughing face suited her far more. It was as if her face was made for it, for smiling and laughing. He knew he shouldn't be. She was competition, the enemy. And he barley knew her. But he kept replaying the image of her giggling to herself in his head. His thoughts turned sour when he thought of that Viktor Baranova, the stocky Durmstrang captain with his arm around Lily. '

'Apparently, those two are quite protective over their little french flowers.' Emma's words replayed over and over in his head. He didn't like the image of the guy with his arm around Evans. And the fact that he had dragged her off to sit with Slytherins suited him even less. She had obviously been repulsed by the idea. He decided, among the many other things he had to do, he would keep an eye on Baranova. For some reason, the thought of him around Lily, who in his mind was so small and delicate, made him incredibly nervous and well as murderously angry. He finally fell asleep, with the image of Lily's laughing face in his head.

--

_Taa Daa! And that concludes the first chapter. Since I like to make my chapters long, and I will not post a chapter until I'm sure that every spelling and obvious grammar mistake is taken care of, it will probably take a while to post the second chapter. Don't panic! It will get up within the next month, you can be sure. Just make sure you post your reviews, tell your friends, have them post reviews, and Ill get it up as soon a I can! The more reviews I get after all, the more ill be influenced to post the next chapter quicker. ;D So keep watching for it people!_


	2. knights in quidditch uniforms

Alice and Emma entered the heads common room, giggling and laughing loudly. It was early in the morning, and the first day of classes. The heads common room was still dark, as the sun hadn't entirely come up yet. It was still a good three hours or so before classes actually started--they began late today so the teachers could help the visiting students get organized into classes. Since there were quite a large number of them, Alice suspected that the classes would be packed. She had complained loud and long about the arrangement, while Emma listened patiently and nibbled on a chocolate frog.

A dim sunlight poured through the window in the nook under the stairs. it was enough for Alice and Emma to start at the sight of the four boys sprawled all over the place, snoring. They exchanged a look and, grinning, moved as silently as possible around the boys. Emma, her curiosity getting the better of her, went to stand by Remus and looked down at his sleeping form while Alice stood in front of James and carefully grabbed a pillow that had fallen onto the floor. Silently, glancing towards Emma who grinned back and fought a giggle, she raised the pillow over James head and brought it down suddenly, yelling, "Rise and shine!!"

James started and yelled in surprise as his face collided with the pillow. "Oi! What the bloody he-" He said but his words were cut off as she struck him with the pillow again.

Sirius started but remained some way between sleep and awareness. He snorted and murmured, "Damn--" snort, "bludger.. gimme my bat.."

Peter continued on sleeping, snoring and wheezing like usual.

Remus started the minute James gave his yell, and his soft breathing was cut off as he woke. He murmured to himself and stirred, sitting up slowly and daily muttering, "What time is it?"

"'Bout six thirty." Emma replied, smiling lightly from her seat. Remus's eyes widened and he immediately sat up straighter, rubbing his face and fiddling with his hair. "Bloody hell Emma! What are you doing here?"

"Better yet, what are we doing awake at six in the morning?" Grumbled James as he reached over and grabbed his glasses.

Alice rolled her eyes and hit him in the head with the pillow again. "Because Mr. Captain Sir, you said you were going to have practice this morning. So Emma woke me up at the crack of dawn to come down here and let her in so she could meet you guys. So imagine our surprise when we come up here and find you sleeping."

James, now more alert, sat up and stood, not caring that his chest was completely bare. Alice didn't seem to care either. She walked over to the couch where Sirius still laid, only fully awake now and burying his face in a pillow, lying on his stomach. She sat on his legs, as his body took up the entire couch, and he started, "Bloody hell, Alice! What do I look like a damn cushion?" He grumbled, cranky as he usually was in the morning, though he could hardly complain if a girl decided to sit on him, even if it was Alice.

Alice said nothing and merely leaned back against the couch as Emma stood, her face blushing slightly at the sight of James without a shirt on. Most people would have thought that by now, being one of the few girls on the Quidditch Team, she would have gotten used to see boys' bare chests. But shy Emma still blushed scarlet every time. It was almost unbelievable that she was a beater for the team. But James knew. He had seen it in her when she tried out last year. On the pitch she was a completely different person and most people knew to steer clear of her once she got going.

"Well, I'm going to find Mary and Nora and meet you guys down at the pitch." She said, referring to the two other girls on the team, and, blushing, walked out of the room. Alice looked after her for a moment and then yawned widely, standing as Sirius stood up, grumbling; James, pulling on a shirt, wacked him on the head.

"Come on! I've already sent a message to the rest of the team; they should be on their way down to the pitch now. Grab your broom and get going!" He said.

"As your co-captain and best mate, James, I must remind you that it is _six o' clock _in the _morning_! Waking up at such ungodly hours as this cannot be healthy." He complained as he too pulled on a shirt. Alice watched them, unfazed,

"Well, as there's nothing else to do until classes begin and we've got no heads duties this early in the year, I believe ill tag along and watch." She said cheerily

Remus, of course, said he would go along as well and eventually they got Peter up and he confirmed that he would go too. James and Sirius led the way out of the heads room, with Alice and Remus trailing behind, dragging a half asleep Peter.

When they reached the pitch, they were in for a shock. Standing there, arguing with Emma, Mary, and Nora was the one and only Lily Evans. James was again stunned. She looked... well, hot. She was clad in a tank top with sturdy brown leather quidditch pants, gloves and boots. Her hair was pulled up messily into a pony tail and appeared to be windswept, loose strands falling delicately around her face. Her forehead was shiny with sweat and she gripped in her hand the very prestigious Nimbus 1000, the very same broom James himself had. He found that odd, as it was a British brand, but he would not get a chance to inquire about it.

"We were here first!" She shouted at Emma, who also appeared to be uncharacteristically angry, as she was when dealing with anything concerning quidditch.

"Our captain booked the pitch for us this morning! And this is our school, dammit! What makes you think you can just barge in here and play on our pitch?"

"Because I am a guest of this school and the visiting schools also have permission to play on your pitch." Lily seethed, her gloved hands clenching.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" James said, approaching, ever strict when dealing with anything have to do with Quidditch.

"James! Great Merlin, thank god your here. This French cow here-" Lily gave a great gasp of disbelief and anger "says she and her team have got the pitch already and are trying to kick us out of here!"

James looked towards Lily. She seemed slightly surprised that he was here, but still more furious. Her pale skin was red and her eyes were blazing dangerously. From the sky, he could see the other members of the Beauxbatons team hovering on their brooms, watching with indignancy. Marie, he saw, flew down from her place in the air and landed expertly next to Lily. Her black hair, too short to pull up into a pony tail, waved messily around her face and her blue eyes were cold as usual. He felt Sirius stiffen slightly at his side as she did.

"Sorry, girlies," He said, cracking a goofy, lopsided grin. "I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today. You'll have to get out." He said bluntly and both Beauxbatons girls bristled.

"We 'ave special permission to be 'ere, Potter." Spat Marie, "Dumbledore 'imself said we could 'ave ze pitch zis morning."

What? That was impossible. Dumbledore had said to James last evening that he could have the pitch. He thought back to when he had asked the old man for permission and watched as his friendly blue eyes twinkled merrily, hiding some unknown amusement. He almost growled. Now he knew.

"Looks like our dear old head master would like us to get to know each other." He muttered and Lily's eyes lit up in comprehension.

"No! No way, we're NOT training with you morons."

But Marie put a slender finger to her lips in thought as she too began to comprehend, "But, Lily, per'aps zis would be a good idea. Ze extra practice against anozer team before ze compeition would be veery beneficial for ze team. And besides," She said, turning and addressing the rest of the team, "we could use zis opportunity to prove to zeese Brits zat girls are just as good at quidditch as boys. Especially," She added, turning back towards Emma and giving her a chilling glare, "preety ones, eef not more."

Noise erupted as both sides began arguing abruptly, Emma and Marie screaming insults at each other while the rest of the Beauxbatons girls swooped down from the air to join their team. Shouts and threats and insults rang through the air and finally both James and Lily had had enough, "Oi!" "Alright, you lot!" They shouted simultaneously. Even then it took several minutes before everyone had calmed down.

Lily stepped forward towards James. He had to struggle to keep from stepping back, as if he was blinded by some great light. "Alright then, here's the deal. Well play one game with you. Whoever wins gets the pitch for the _rest _of the day. And if we win you must take back everything you've said about girls and quidditch."

James almost laughed, but secretly he felt ashamed. He could feel Emma, Mary, and Nora's eyes on him, questioning, wondering what he could have possibly said about girls and quidditch. If they ever found out, they would be furious. But, he thought smugly, what I've said doesn't have to mean all girls. "Well, my darling, I never did say _all _girls you know. Mostly just you French ones; far too delicate for such a brutal game as quidditch."

'We could whoop your sorry arses any day, Potter! And, we can look good doing it."

"Unlike your leetle, or should I say big, girls over zeere." Threw in a strawberry blonde Beauxbatons girl and they all began laughing. Marie and Lily remained professional and silent. James regarded her for a moment. She certainly didn't look French, talk like it, or act like it at all. She was rebellious and tough, even compared to her fellow team mates and she had a heavy British accent just like James and practically every other person at Hogwarts. She was obviously not from France yet she attended Beauxbatons, was their team captain, and defended them as if she was one of them. None of it made sense.

While he had been pondering this, another wave of shouting proceeded thanks to the Beauxbatons girl's comment and things were beginning to turn ugly.

"Alright, that's enough!" Sirius shouted and everything grew quiet. He saw from the corner of his eye Marie shoot him a look and his stomach did a flip. Disgusting, he thought. Why am I getting all weird over a girl?

"Alright then," James said, exchanging a look between the rest of his team. Emma smirked and gave him thumbs up while Sirius grinned widely and crossed his arms. "We'll play you."

"Alright then," Lily said, grinning. It was a tough grin, though, determined. James still thought her carefree smile suited her best. _Whoa, _James thought. _Get your head in the game, Prongs. _

He shouted encouragements to his team as they all filed in to the locker rooms. After they had come out, Lily had to admit, they looked rather good. Her eyes couldn't help but linger on James, and Marie just stared at Sirius, who was talking with James about the strategy. Most unlike her, Lily thought with amusement as Marie evidently realized who she had been staring at and blushed scarlet. Lily couldn't help it. She burst out laughing and Marie looked over indignantly, her blush still scarlet over her pretty face.

"What?" She said indignantly but Lily only continued to laugh and giggle away. Marie even smiled a little herself and rubbed the back of her neck, her lips pursed in amusement.

James's head had snapped up the minute he heard it. That laugh, it was the first time he had heard it. Now that he had, he knew it would be etched in his memory forever. And her smiling face _was _much better than her determined grin, even covered in sweat. Oh! It was beautiful. He would never forget it.

Poor Sirius also appeared to have trouble turning his head from the two girls, though his attention was much more focused on Marie. The blush looked beautiful on her pale skin. It made her look friendlier, and warmer. He thought she looked beautiful. And then he was abruptly disgusted and horrified at himself. _Never, _he had _never _before thought that about a girl; hot, or sexy, yeah, sure, no problem. The word beautiful had never crossed his mind before.

"Uhm, so yeah." James said, turning back towards his team. He cleared his throat nervously. Emma's eyebrow was raised and the rest of his team smirked suggestively at him. Clearly, he had seen him staring. "Well, we don't know much about this team." He started, "But now's the time we learn. Emma and Sirius, watch out for the bludgers. Emma, don't let yourself get distracted again. Mary, Colin," He said, turning to his fellow chasers, "Focus. Collin, I know you have a habit of trying to get the ball through the hoop yourself, but if either Mary or I are open _pass_ it to us. Nora do what you usually do, right now your okay but you still could use a bit more practice with your reflexes. Stay focused." He said.

Then he turned towards the stands where Alice, Remus, and Peter who had been sitting watching the whole affair. "Who wants to start the game?"

The three gryffindors looked at each other and finally, Alice, who had played on the team previously but quit so she could focus on her studies, stood. "I'll do it I suppose."

She walked down the center of the field and stood in front of the box which contained the quaffle, snitch and bludgers. She unclipped it, and released the two bludgers, jumping back as they went soaring into the air. She released the snitch then, which went soaring around the head of Lily and then went to circle the Gryffindor seaker, David before soaring towards the sky again. Alice picked up the quaffle then, and held it out towards the two teams who hovered in a circle in the air above here. "Now I want a good clean game!" She announced, looking around, "from all of you."

No one said anything, too focused on the game ahead. Finally, she threw it up in the air.

"Let the games begin." Remus whispered from the stands, smirking as he leaned back into his seat.

Everything happened at once. All six chasers went swooping towards the quaffle, James snatching it out of the air before any of the others could. Lily and David were already gone from his sight, Lily searching the skies for the snitch and David doing the same, while they both kept a careful eye on each other and the bludgers.

"James!" He suddenly heard Sirius shout and he came swooping in out of nowhere, fiercely batting away an oncoming bludger that had been heading straight for James's head. The strawberry blonde Beauxbatons who had spoken out earlier scowled and was gone as she went to go save one of her teams chasers from an oncoming bludger.

James didn't stop to thank Sirius. He zoomed ahead, towards the posts, tossing it towards Mary. She caught it and went head while James looped back around and threw it to pass to Collin. A Beauxbatons chaser swooped down and caught it before he could, however, and tossed it to zoomed towards the opposite goal, tossing it to her team mates. James and the others weren't fast enough. The ball went through the goal and the Beauxbatons girls grinned.

James scowled and zoomed again towards the ball, which was being tossed between three Beauxbatons girls. He swooped in, catching the ball before one of the girls could catch it, and made a sharp turn, almost tossing himself off the broom, and zoomed back towards the other goal.

The game went on in this manner for about five minutes. And in that small space of time, the score went to 11-13 Beauxbatons. Things were getting tensed, but the Beauxbatons girls semed pleased. Lily flashed a grin towards Marie once before returning to looking for the snitch. She and David kept sending glares towards each other.

Lily was circling the pitch, with David on the other side of it watching her while scanning the air for the snitch, when Lily suddenly saw it zoom by in the corner of her eye. It was enough. She turned as soon as she spotted it and darted towards it. David soon followed, and they were right behind each other in a second. Lily kept on following the snitch, not even looking back towards David. But he caught up soon enough, and was zooming right beside Lily, a furious scowl on his face and they both made a wide turn, following the snitch around the pitch.

Emma was batting away a bludger from hitting Mary in the head when she spotted the snitch zooming by, with Lily and David close on its tail. Grinning, she zoomed over to follow them. A bludger suddenly zoomed by and she shouted, "David, watch it!" punting it straight towards Lily.

"Lily!" Marie shouted as she spotted Emma batting a bludger straight towards her friend. Lily didn't look up, still intent on following the snitch, even as the bludger was heading straight for her. David looked and saw it coming, his eyed widened. He swerved out of the way, ducking below Lily, while still keeping the snitch in sight.

Marie zoomed towards Lily, and with not enough time to bat the bludger, threw herself in front of her. Or tried too. She was just a second two late, and the bludger ended up colliding with Lily's side and Maries shoulder. They both screamed, in pain and surprise. Marie went careening into the side of the pitch and tumbling down towards the ground. Sirius seemed to appear out of nowhere and caught her, falling to the ground with her and landing with Marie in his lap, the Beauxbatons girl gripping her shoulder in pain.

Lily, however, was flipped over and only just managed to grab the handle of her broom in one hand. Her side where the bludger had hit screamed in protest. She scowled furiously, biting down on her lip to keep from screaming out. Her fingers slipped, and she was falling.

At least her entire team, minus Marie who was still sitting in Sirius's lap, and even a few gryffindors went zooming towards Lily. James, however, with the fastest broom besides Lily's own got there first, to the shock of many. She landed in a heap in his arms and the broom sunk a few feet under the sudden weight before hovering in the air. He brought them down in the center of the pitch and James slid awkwardly off the broom, with Lily in his arms, and landed with the red-head in his lap. Half of the Beauxbatons girls zoomed down to surround Lily and James, the other going to surround Marie and Sirius.

Sirius still held Marie in his lap, whose eyes were closed in pain and who was gripping Sirius's arm in a death grip. He didn't seem to mind, and was busy looking worriedly at Marie's face which was leaned against his shoulder. Her shoulder seemed to be dislocated from its socket and her arm hung at an odd angle against Sirius's side. He seemed to have realized this and his face was dripping with worry, one arm looped around her waist, the other trying to coax her to turn so he could examine it further. Beauxbatons girls hovered around him worriedly. For once, he didn't seem to notice or care for them, his eyes glued to Marie.

Lily seemed, unlike Marie, aware of exactly whose lap she was sitting in and it bothered her greatly. "Get away from me! Get awa—" she gasped suddenly in pain and fell back against James. She had leaned forward, trying to scramble away from him, but her side seemed to think otherwise as she suddenly felt a violent, stabbing pain ribbing through her chest.

"Get a grip, Evans! Jeeze." He said to her, frustrated. "Lean back so it doesn't hurt so much. Someone go get Madame Pomfrey!" He added, shouting towards the crowd.

"No way, are you crazy? Get away from me!" She said, moving to lean forward again, but James grabbed her shoulders in an iron grip and forced her to lean against his chest.

"Don't be so stubborn!" He growled with a scowl, but inside his heart was pounding. First, because he almost couldn't believe he actually had her here, in his arms, leaning against him for support. The other was for worry. He was currently more furious with Emma than he had ever been in his life, which he didn't think was very ethical. It was not the first time Emma had batted someone right off their broom. She had even given him a black eye or two from the practices he had with her. But now it seemed utterly wrong to him, what she had done. At least for the moment.

He leaned his head forward so he was whispering urgently in her head, "Just calm down and breathe slowly. If you breathe two quickly you'll puncture a lung. I think one of your ribs is broken." Lily scowled viciously, furious that she was forced to be helped at all, let alone by James. When she got better she would march over to that Emma and wring her neck.

She responded to James only by nodding, and taking a deep breath, ignoring the stab in her side, and tried to calm down. Her breathing slowed, and by the time Madame Pomfrey had entered the pitch, she was breathing calmly, leaned up against James with his arm looped carefully around her waist, her hair spilling over his shoulder and chest like blood. Madame Pomfrey came by and kneeled beside them. "Well, this one's nothing to worry about, at least. Just a cracked rib, I can fix it up in a jiffy. Take her to the infirmary while I deal with the other one."

James nodded, and Lily gasped in surprise as he suddenly looped an arm under her legs and another around her arms. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She shouted in protest as he lifted her up carefully and began walking towards the castle. "Put me down you great big arse! PUT ME DOWN!" James simply ignored her and continued walking towards the castle.

Back in the pitch, Marie continued to lean against Sirius, crushing his wrist where she gripped it tightly to keep from crying or screaming. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire and it wouldn't stop. She had her head tucked into the space between Sirius's neck and shoulder, still unaware of who's lap it was she sat in, her thoughts entirely focused on the pain. Sirius looked down at her, growing increasingly worried. And confused. What the hell was he doing? He wasn't supposed to care about some French girl he barely knew. But he couldn't help it; he couldn't make himself _not_ care. It was suddenly very important that Marie was not harmed in anyway. He could quite possibly kill Emma for throwing that bludger towards them.

Madame Pomfrey bustled over and knelt down by Marie. She saw how Maries arm dangled at an odd angle from her shoulder. "Oh dear, I'm afraid I can't fix that by magic. I'll have to pop that arm back into place." She looked up towards Sirius, "It will be very painful so you need to distract her."

Sirius stared at her blankly, his face seeming slightly panicked, "How?"

Pomfrey sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes, "Oh I don't know Black! Talk to her or something! You're usually good with the ladies."

Sirius gulped, suddenly nervous. _Whoa padfoot, _he thought to himself, _since when do you get nervous at the prospect of talking to girls? _

He looked down at Marie, whose face was still tucked into the crook of his neck, and crabbed the hand of her uninjured arm, "Girard…Girard..." He began, whispering. He cleared his throat. "Marie." He said.

The Beauxbatons girls eyes snapped open and she seemed to wonder who exactly she was sitting on. Her eyes looked up towards Sirius, who smirked upon meeting her eyes. "God dam—Black!" She suddenly shouted, and then screamed as Madame Pomfrey popped her arm into place. She gripped Sirius's arm, growling and muttering a string of curses. Suddenly, she scrambled away, the pain in her arm apparently numbing. "Dammit, Black! Who gave you permission to touch me?" She said, her accent heavy, and she stood awkwardly, brushing herself off.

Sirius stood as well, crossing his arms and grinning, gaining back his usual composure. "Well, excuse me for saving you from a broken neck."

"I would 'ave been fine!"

"Says you. But from the looks of things, you most certainly would have not."

She growled, a high screech of frustration, and the huffed, crossing her hands. "Where is Lily?"

Sirius blinked, and then suddenly realized that half of the Beauxbatons girls, including Lily, and James were missing. The rest of the Gryffindor team had stayed with Sirius, and Alice, Remus, and Peter had come down from the stands and were now standing several feet away, watching.

"They went to the infirmary." Alice said, crossing her arms, "I think Captain Evans has a busted rib or something."

Marie's eyes widened and she turned to the rest of the Beauxbatons girls, said something to them in French, and then turned and began walking towards the castle. Sirius watched her walk away, and then something occurred to him. Turning towards the rest of the Gryffindor team, he shouted, "Uhm—practice dismissed!"

Emma came up to him, gripping her broom, disappointed that the game hadn't been finished and no one had actually won. She rolled her eyes and said, "No duh Sherlock."

Sirius ignored her, still furious with her, and looked at Alice, "What are you going to do?"

Alice and Emma (who had walked up to stand among her, Remus, and Peter), exchanged a glance. "We're just going to go back to the common rooms and find something to do until classes start."

"Or go back to sleep." Emma griped, grimacing. She and the rest of the gryffindors, minus Sirius, went to the locker rooms. Sirius looked at Remus and Peter,

"Well, are you coming?"

"Where?" Remus said, almost grumpily, while Peter yawned.

"To the infirmary of course."

"Why would we go there? It's just Evans."

Sirius threw an arm around Remus's shoulder.

"Yeah, but Moony my friend, our Jamsie is there with the lovely Miss Evans and can you honestly say you would want to miss a moment of that?"

"Yes, actually. The sun has barley been up a couple of hours. I would prefer going back to sleep than having to walk all the way to the infirmary."

Sirius blinked, "It's just right up there." He said, gesturing a hand towards the great stone wall of the castle, where right above the pitch stood the windows of the infirmary.

Remus sighed, "Fine then, I'll go."

"Yay!" Sirius shouted like a little child and began running towards Marie, who was about to disappear inside the castle.

"Hey Girard!"

Remus sighed as he followed after Sirius, with Peter trailing behind.

In the halls of Hogwarts, the protesting shouts of Lily could be heard by everyone as James, with about four Beauxbatons girls trailing behind, walked towards the infirmary. The strawberry blonde from before was one of them. She looked nervously at Lily and then James and said to another, smaller girl, "Go get Viktor and Ivann."

The little Beauxbatons girl nodded vigorously and then went scurrying away. Lily was still hollering at James, though she kept from moving to much as her ribs hurt like crazy even when she was still. Some of her screams were from the pain in the first place, and she wanted to get to Madame Pomfrey as soon as possible. The only thing that upset her was how she was currently getting there.

James ignored her for the bit of the walk, but eventually his patience snapped. His nerves were frayed enough due to the fact that one, he actually had Lilian Evans in his arms at the very moment, and two, he was_ very_ worried for her rib and furious with Emma. Her yelling didn't help.

"Evans, shut the bloody hell up!"

She blushed bright red and wacked him on his chest, sending a bolt of pain through her own chest. "'Ow dare you!" She screeched, a slight French accent surfacing in her anger. "You will not talk to me like that. Let me go!"

But they were already walking through the doors of the infirmary and Madame Pomfrey bustled over and looked over Lily once, "Oh, good you're here. Here, just set her down on this bed here a moment, Mr. Potter, there you are. Now wait a moment, I've gotten everything ready." She said and bustled into her office.

James walked over to the nearest hospital wing bed and carefully set Lily down on it. She had stopped her screaming, and was gripping James arm as he lowered her onto the bed, hissing in pain and muttering, "Careful..ahh, I said be careful!"

James let out a breathy laugh and shook his head, "You sure have one big mouth, Evans."

"Excuse me?!" She said loudly, her eyebrows raised and she gasped in pain as her breath sent a stab of pain through her side.

"Stop moving, will you?! You're going to make it worse." He huffed as he threw himself onto the bed next to Lily's and sat there, with his arms supporting him from behind.

Lily blushed scarlet, the color clashing oddly with her flaming hair, and scowled at him. "ooooo, I _never _should have agreed to play that game with you. Look what you 'ave done!"

James huffed, running a hand through his jet black hair. "It's not really my fault, you know. But that's how quidditch goes, love."

Lily's scowl only deepened and she carefully leaned back against the head board, silent. He was right, she knew. What Emma had done wasn't exactly against the rules. She was just loathe to admit it.

"Your pretty stubborn, you know. What's so bad about having people help you once in a while?" James's voice spoke and she turned to look at him, her face still slightly flushed and cringing in pain. "I mean, you cant do everything on your own."

"I have no problem with people helping me, Potter." She spat at him. "I have Marie, don't I? We help each other."

"Considering how independent you _both _are, I would say you dislike her having to help you with anything as much as the next person. And vise versa."

"That is… so stupid! Of course I don't."

"Then if its fine for Marie to help, why not me?"

"There is a _very_ big difference between you and Marie. For one, she not a dirty, showoff, toe rag like you."

"Now that's not very nice;_ I _don't think I'm a toe rag."

"Well, I could hardly care what _you _think."

"Everyone cares what people think, its human nature."

"Well, not me!" Lily announced stubbornly, finally turning her head back towards James. As her own eyes met with his, the somber hazel orbs boring into her, she flinched back and her face flushed, though this time not quite from anger. She was a bit surprised, actually, and a bit impressed. When his friends weren't around, it seemed that James was at least a _bit _respectable; a bit.

James who noticed her flinch, had begun to comment when Madame Pomfrey hurried in, carrying a potion and her wand. "Alright deary, drink this here." Lily took it and drunk it without question, and promptly spit it out in shock as Madame Pomfrey felt along her ribs, pressing down hard on her broken one. Madame Pomfrey chuckled, patting Lily on the shoulder as she struggled not to cough, "There it is! Now, now dear, finish up that potion." She waved her wand over Lily's chest, and muttered a spell. Suddenly, the pain in Lily's chest had vanished, and she was able to sit up on her own as Madame Pomfrey took the potion vial from Lily.

"What was the potion for?" She asked, still coughing slightly from her near-choking.

"To distract you so I could figure out which rib was broken. It's also quite a good source of vitamins. I try to give it to a good number of my patients. " She said with a serious face.

Lily opened her mouth to spout a retort, but the woman had already hurried away.

James looked at her for a moment and then chuckled softly under his breath.

Lily heard, and her head snapped around to glare at him as she sat up completely

"Lily!" Marie shouted, and half-jogged over to where Lily still sat on the bed. The red-head slid of and hugged her friend. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey patched me right up." Lily said, glancing sideways towards the old witch who was tending to another patient. "What about you? The bludger hit you pretty hard to right?"

Marie waved a hand, "'eet was nothing. Jus' a dislocated shoulder."

"But your fine now, right?"

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey 'as a strong grip." She said and grimaced, rubbing her shoulder.

"Marie dear!

"Zat ees Girard to you Black!" Marie screeched, spinning around as Sirius came walking up to her.

"Oh come on Marie," He said, ignoring her shouting, "I did save your life after all. I think I deserve a kiss at the least! Don't you think we should be addressing each other by our first names?" He said, with a wide grin. Her took her hand before she could protest and brought it to his lips, kissing her fingers. "Cherie."

Her blush blazed across her cheeks and she snatched her hand away, waving it around as if stung. Lily was scowling behind her, and James, Remus, and Peter were roaring with laughter. The remaining Beauxbatons girls stood by some feet away, eyeing their captains warily.

James threw his arm around Lily's shoulder, his very slightly respectable attitude gone, and Sirius followed with Marie. "Come on girls, lighten up."

"I have a better idea. Vhy don't you get your hands off them?" Said a voice behind Sirius and when he turned a fist came hammering into his jaw. He stumbled back. There, with the Beauxbatons girls hovering behind them, stood a glaring and furious Ivann, flanked by Viktor who looked equally dangerous. He was glaring a death ray towards James, who still had his arm around Lily. James glared back and he suddenly felt the impulse to tighten his hold on Lily's shoulder.

She never gave him the chance. She shoved his arm from around her shoulder and jogged towards Viktor, moving to stand beside him and the Bulgarian captain put his arm around her. She looped her own arm around his waist and glared at James along with Viktor.

Sirius had meanwhile, with a loud growl, launched towards Ivann, fists raised. Marie jumped in front of him, her eyes wide, and stopped him from moving further, placing a hand on his chest and half-hugging him, looping an arm around his waist. She was barely able to stop him; he was so much stronger than her, and she skidded backwards slightly. But he halted enough for her to shout, "Stop! Stop eet right now!" She screeched, shooting glares towards Sirius and Ivann, who was being blocked from advancing by two Beauxbatons girls.

"Marie, get out of the vay!"

"Ivann! Eef you do not stop thees nonsense right now, I will refuse to speak with you for a week! And you!" She added, shoving away from Sirius who was now being held back by Remus and James. "I would advise you to keep your distance, monsieur." She spat coldly, and turned back to Ivann, who gathered her up in his arms.

Sirius shrugged violently out of James and Remus's grip, glaring after them as then turned, and, with the rest of the Beauxbatons girls trailing behind, left the infirmary. He was not alone, as James also gave them a death glare. He was barley aware of Remus sighing.

"God, you couple of gits. I know you're not one to give up when it comes to girls, but seriously, I thought you would have known better." He said, huffing and running a hand over his sandy blonde hair.

Sirius spun around, furious. "What?!"

Remus's head snapped up at the tone, and he almost glared. "You guys know better than to go after girls who are already taken. You've heard Emma's warning, you've seen it for yourself even. You've always respected that before. So what's different now?"

"We were just messing around, dammit Moony! Don't you start on me!"

"And don't you start on him!" James snapped, crossing his arms. Moony was right, he knew he was. It made him angry hearing the words, but it was true.

"You bloody hypocrite! You're gonna take his side?"

"There is no side, Padfoot! Were the Marauders, always on the same side right? And you know he's right! It pisses me off too, but what are we supposed to do?"

Sirius stood fuming for a moment, before his jaw unclenched and he relaxed, running a hand through his long hair. "Yeah, s'pose your right. Sorry, Moony."

"Forgiven." Remus griped a grimace on his face.

It was silent for a moment, and then James clapped his hands, "Alright then, who's up for a pint of butter bear at the three broomsticks?"

Sirius brightened considerably, both at the prospect of sneaking out of school and alcohol. "Give me a shot of fire whisky and I'll be alright." He said, clapping a hand on James shoulder.

"C'mon, let's get the cloak."

"Blimey, there's no way well all fit in that thing anymore."

"We should if we're careful. Ha, remember the good ol' days? Those first couple of years were gold." James said.

"Pranking Slytherins, sneaking out of the castle—"

"causing chaos," James added with a smirk.

They continued to prattle on as they walked out the door, content for the moment with the day's events, and to just have each other's company.


End file.
